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Nomination Guidelines 1. Nominees should be retired for no less than five years from active participation in the category for which they are nominated. 2. Nominees should have achieve significant national or international recognition for no less than ten years in the category for which they are nominated. 3. Significant recognition should include some of the following: A: National Championships B: National level participation C: International Medal Performance D: All-tournament/all-world selection
Hall of Famer Selection Process Charged with the vital task of continuing to be sure new enshrinees are the finest the game has produced is the Volleyball Hall of Fame's Selection Committee. Every past living inductee is a voting member of the Selection Committee. Selection requires a 75% majority from the total votes received.
THE LOVE OF THE GAME IS IN MY HEART, WHICH SPREADS TO THE BLOOD WHICH I BLEED. THE PASSION OF PLAYING IS IN MY SKIN, WHICH IS SHED WHEN I SWEAT. PLAYING ISN’T SOMETHING THAT YOU DO, IT’S A PART OF YOU. -MISTY MAY TREANOR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Joop Alberda 06
Nalbert Bitencourt 12
Tara Cross 18
Natalie Cook 26
Brittany Hochevar 32
Sandra Pires 38
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Born: October 25, 1951 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Indoor Volleball Coach
Joop Alberda became famous as the coach of the Dutch golden volleyballteam at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Under his inspirational leadership the Dutch golden volleyballteam seized the highest price in sports in a memorable match against Italy, which was later proclaimed one of the greatest Dutch sports moments of the century. A year later the Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF) asked Alberda to make preparations for Sydney 2000. As NOC*NSF’s technical director he became a member of the ‘Team de mission’ for Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002 and Athens 2004. He was responsible for the innovation of technical programs, the Olympic Coach Platform and technical training aspects of the preparation for the Olympics. He left NOC*NSF in 2005 to establish NL Coach, a ‘union’ for coaches.
Alberda had an almost unprecedented ability to motivate athletes to exhibit their best performances with unexpected and remarkable statements. A real visionary, adored by his athletes who where extremely disappointed after he announced leaving NOC*NSF. Alberda is technical director at the Dutch Volleyball Alliance, NeVeBo, and, at the request of Guus Hiddink, general manager at the Russian Football Federation (soccer), where he is responsible for managing the Russian national team. Alberda became famous as the coach of the Dutch golden volleyballteam at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Under his inspirational leadership the Dutch golden volleyballteam seized the highest price in sports in a memorable match against Italy, which was later proclaimed one of the greatest Dutch sports moments of the century. A year later the Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF) asked 07
Alberda to make preparations for Sydney 2000. As NOC*NSF’s technical director he became a member of the ‘Team de mission’ for Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002 and Athens 2004. He was responsible for the innovation of technical programs, the Olympic Coach Platform and technical training aspects of the preparation for the Olympics. He left NOC*NSF in 2005 to establish NL Coach, a ‘union’ for coaches. Alberda had an almost unprecedented ability to motivate athletes to exhibit their best performances with unexpected and remarkable statements. A real visionary, adored by his athletes who where extremely disappointed after he announced leaving NOC*NSF. Alberda is technical director at the Dutch Volleyball Alliance, NeVeBo, and, at the request of Guus Hiddink, general manager at the Russian Football Federation (soccer), where he is responsible for managing the Russian national team. Joop Alberda is a passionate and motivated speaker on team building, leadership, innovation and management.
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What is Joop Alberda doing now? Joop Alberda is a passionate and motivated speaker on team building, leadership, innovation and management.
NUMBER OF GOLD MEDALS AWARDED UNDER ALBERDA’S DUTCH OLYMPIC DELEGATION
VOTED BEST VOLLEYBALL COACH IN THE WORLD
YEARS ALBERDA FILLED THE POSITION OF TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF THE NOC*NSF, THE DUTCH NATIONAL OLYMPIC FEDERATION 09
NETHERLANDS WINS GOLD -Atlanta 1996
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Born: March 9, 1974 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Indoor Male Player
Brazilian Volleyball great Nalbert Bitencourt, who won Olympic Gold at Athens 2004, will be inspiring the next generation of athletes as part of the 2014 Olympic Day activities taking place in his home town of Rio de Janeiro – the Host City for the next Olympic Games in 2016. The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has a number of events planned to celebrate the values of the Olympic Movement. Among them will be the traditional Olympic Day run which will take place on 25 June in the Urca neighbourhood of Rio. Around 350 children are expected at the event. Among them will be 50 young runners from schools that are part of the Rio 2016 education project. After the run, the children will have the chance to speak with Nalbert about what the Olympic Movement means to Brazil. Meanwhile, Brazilian basketball stars, Olympian Marcelinho Machado, who competed at London 2012, and his younger brother Duda Machado, 13
will be special guests at a series of workshops offering disadvantaged children the opportunity to sample a range of sports like fencing, hockey, table tennis, archery and wrestling. The Rio 2016 brand sculpture will also be on display in the city and Rio school children will be invited to use their creative skills to portray their impressions of the Olympic Movement in an art competition as part of the ongoing celebrations. Nalbert Bitencourt is one of the most decorated volleyball players ever. He helped Brazil win gold at the 2002 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships, Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the 2003 FIVB Volleyball Mens’ World Cup. He also won three FIVB World League titles and was the first player to win senior, youth and junior world titles.
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What is Nalbert Bitencourt doing now? Nalbert it enjoying life in Brazil with his growing family. He has started a volleyball supply company and is currently coaching youth teams.
NALBERT HAS DECIDED TO TRY HIMSELF AS A SPORTS COMMENTATOR ON GLOBOSAT SPORTTV IN BRAZIL. HE IS ALSO AN OWNER OF A RESTAURANT AND OF SCAMA AGENCY. 15
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BITENCOURT LEADS TEAM BRAZIL TO CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE WORLD LEAGUE, 2011 17
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Born: September 16, 1968 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Indoor Volleball Player
Tara Cross-Battle is one of the great players in the history of American volleyball. She is one of only a few four-time Olympians in indoor volleyball. She played the outside hitter position for Team USA and was one of the best players in the world. Tara was known for her all-around skills as a good passer who was responsible for a large part of the serve receive formation and of course as a world-class hitter who was an enormous part of the offense for the Americans. On the court, she was one of the team leaders and served as team captain in 1996. She was a member of the bronze medal winning USA women’s team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Tara was selected Best Hitter at the World Championship in 1993. She was named the USA Team’s Most Valuable Player in 1995. When the U.S. women won the Grand Prix in 1995, she was named Best Scorer and Most Valuable Player, winning $30,000 in bonus prize money. Tara graduated from Southern California Christian High School in Anaheim, California.
She also attended Gahr High School her junior year where she won a CIF 5-A championship. She was named League MVP, All-CIF and AllLeague. Her senior year, she led SC Christian to a CIF 1-A championship. That year she was named All-League, CIF MVP and MVP of the state tournament. She was also named to Volleyball Monthly magazine’s Fab 50 list of the top high school players in the country. Tara Cross played at Long Beach State University for Head Coach Brian Gimillaro between 1986 and 1990. She was a two-time NCAA Division I Player of the Year and a fourtime All-America selection. She was named to the All-Decade team for the 1980’s. Tara led Long Beach State to the school’s first-ever national title in 1989. Tara set a record in the NCAA for career kills with 2,767. During her senior season she set the record at Long Beach State and the Big West Conference when she logged 779 kills while hitting .353. She received the Honda Award for volleyball that year, an award given to outstanding collegiate female 19
Tara joined the USA team in 1990. Over the course of her career she won gold medals at the 1995 World Grand Prix and the1995 Canada Cup. She won silver medals at the 1991 NORCECA, 1993 NORCECA Championships and the1995 Pan American Games. Tara’s best Olympic finish came in 1992, when she helped Team USA to a Bronze medal finish in Barcelona. In the 1992 Olympics the USA team finished second in their pool to Russia. Both teams had a 2-1 record in pool play but the US lost two more sets than the Russians. The US team met the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and beat them 3-1. They went on to play Cuba in the semifinal and lost in five sets. In the bronze medal match, the U.S. beat Brazil 3-0 to take home the medal. USA finished 7th in 1996, 4th in 2000 and 5th in 2004. Between Olympics Games, Tara played professionally overseas in Italy and Brazil from 1992-2003. In 1996, she served as the Olympic Team Captain.
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What is Tare Cross doing now? Tara is married to Spencer Battle has two children. After her retirement from professional volleyball she became a juniors coach back in her home state of Texas.
WON OLYMPIC BRONZE NAMED BEST HITTER AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
NAMED TEAM USA MVP SERVED AS UNITED STATES TEAM CAPTAIN
INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL CAREER 21
TARA CROSS AND TEAM USA WIN THE BRONZE MEDAL, 1992 22
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Born: January 19, 1975 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Beach Female Player
For five-time Olympian Natalie Cook, success started with a dream, passion and sheer determination. A visionary in every aspect of life- sport, business and relationships - Cook is the only athlete (male or female) to compete in all five Olympic Games in beach volleyball since the introduction of the sport at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. She is also the first Australian female to compete in five consecutive summer Olympics in any sport. Cook captained the Australian Indoor Junior Team in 1992 and in 1993 she transitioned to playing beach volleyball. Just one year later she decided to turn professional and gave up her pursuit of a medical degree. In her years on the pro circuit, Cook has wins in both domestic and international tournaments including five national championships victories, 135 International events played, 26 podium finishes and 42 final-four finishes. Her 165 International FIVB events played is the most of any female player. 27
In 1996, Cook teamed up with 2007 Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee Kerri Pottharst to become one of the most dominant teams. The “dynamic duo” won bronze in the inaugural Olympic Games beach volleyball event in 1996 after defeating three teams from the United States. The pair followed that performance with gold at the 2000 Sydney Games in front of a wildly partisan home crowd. The duo posted a 5-0 mark at the 2000 Olympics and were presented the Order of Australia, their home country’s highest honor. Afterwards, Cook and Pottharst were included in the FIVB’s Team of the Decade. In addition to her sporting career, Cook is active on the public speaking circuit, has written motivational books and launched Sandstorm, which is her own beach volleyball-related business that provides opportunities for others to achieve their dreams. As a true ambassador for the sport of beach volleyball, her remarkable longevity and success, as well as for her work in developing the sport away from the sand, we welcome Natalie Cook as a 2013 Inductee to the Volleyball Hall of Fame. 28
What is Natalie Cook doing now? Nat has hung up her bikini and is now helping to motiv8 and inspire others to fulfil their dreams and squeeze all the goodness out of life.
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PERSISTENCE, COMMITMENT, PASSION, MATURITY, COURAGE, BELIEF, SKILFULLNESS, TEAMWORK, & DETERMINATION. - Natalie on what it takes to win Olympic gold 31
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Born: May 26, 1981 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Beach Volleball Player
Competed in 11 FIVB events, nine with Lauren Fendrick... Took fifth with Fendrick in Stare Jablonki, Poland, Long Beach, Calif. and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Won the silver medal with Summer Ross at the NORCECA Beach Circuit event in the Dominican Republic. The pair lost to the U.S. team of Jennifer Fopma and Brooke Sweat in the final. Took bronze with Emily Day at the NORCECA Tour event in Guatemala. 2012 – Hochevar and Angie Akers competed in 10 FIVB World Tour events with their best finish 17th in Stare Jablonki, Poland, their final international tournament of the year. As a team they won $8,050 and were ranked 40th on the FIVB World Tour. Hochevar played the FIVB World Tour event in Thailand with Emily Day. The team finished 13th and won $2,125. 2011 – Hochevar competed in 12 FIVB World Tour events with four different partners. Hochevar and Jennifer Fopma competed in three events together, with the best finish 17th in Shanghai, China. Hochevar and Kerri Walsh placed seventh in Myslowice, Poland. Hochevar and Lisa Rutledge competed in seven events together,
with the best finish ninth in Quebec, Canada… The pair also finished ninth at the Olympic test event in London. In the final event of the season, Hochevar and Nicole Branagh finished ninth in The Hague, Netherlands. Hochevar and Fopma placed sixth at a NORCECA Circuit event in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. 2010 – Hochevar competed in the country qualifiers of FIVB events in Sanya, China and Phuket, Thailand but did not qualify. 2009 – Hochevar and Jenny Kropp competed in the qualifying bracket of the FIVB event in Phuket, Thailand, but did not qualify. In 2013, Hochevar competed in seven AVP events with Hochevar... Took second in Salt Lake City and Huntington Beach... Finished third in Manhattan Beach, Atlantic City, St. Petersburg and Santa Barbara. 2012 – Hochevar and Angie Akers placed third at the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and fifth in Huntington Beach, Calif. Hochevar and Nicole Branagh finished third at the Pro Beach Series event in Manhattan Beach, Calif. 33
Hochevar and Akers finished seventh at the AVP event in Cincinnati and 10th in Santa Barbara. Hochevar’s teams won $11,000 and Hochevar finished the season ranked 19th on the USA Volleyball Beach Player Rankings. 2011 – Hochevar and Lisa Rutledge finished first at the Wide Open event in Siesta Key, FL and third in Cincinnati. Hochevar and Nicole Branagh placed third at the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series event in Miami. 2010 – Hochevar and Dianne DeNecochea competed in seven AVP tournaments before the tour ceased operations on Aug. 13. Their best finish was second in Santa Barbara. They finished fifth in Huntington Beach, Calif. The team won $21,200 and Hochevar was ranked 11th. 2009 – Hochevar and Jennifer Fopma competed in 15 AVP events with their best finish second in Brooklyn. It was their only podium finish of the season. They finished fifth in Atlanta and San Francisco. The team won $42,695. Hochevar was ranked 15th. 2008 – Hochevar competed in 13 AVP events with Keao Burdine and Jennifer Fopma. Her best finish was seventh in Long Beach with Fopma… Hochevar’s teams won $14,912.50 and Hochevar was ranked 35th. 2007 – Hochevar competed in 16 AVP events with Lauren Fendrick, Keao Burdine and Holly McPeak. Her best finish was fifth in Mason, Ohio with Burdine. She
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What is Brittany Hochevar doing now? Brittany is activly touring and coaching both on the beach and indoor circut. She is also pursuing a career in physical therapy as well as sports journalism. also placed seventh in Glendale, Ariz., with Fendrick.
Her teams earned $17,100 and Hochevar was ranked 27th. 2004-06 – Hochevar competed in her first AVP event in 2004 with Sarah Drury. The pair did not get out of qualification. In 2005, Hochevar won her first prize purse with a 17th place finish in Huntington Beach, Calif, with Kimberly Coleman. That year she also finished seventh in Chicago with Paula Roca. In 2006, she competed in five events and finished 13th four times. As a freshman, Hochevar replaced Misty May-Treanor at setter for Long Beach State. Hochevar was a three-time all-Big West honoree, and a second-team All-American her senior season.
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LONDON 2012 SUMMER GAMES TEAM USA
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Born: June 16, 1973 Enshrined: 2014 Category: Beach Female Player
After being tutored by the legendary Jackie Silva in the mid-1990s, three-time Olympian Sandra Pires has assumed the role as the player/coach as she starts her 13th season on the SWATCHFIVB World Tour tutoring Brazilian indoor veteran Virna Dias after spending 2005 with Agatha Bednarczuk. Sandra will turn 33 during the 2006 season. After playing one SWATCH event in 1993 in Karina Silva, Sandra (21 at the time) skipped the 1994 international season to play on the American domestic tour with Jackie (32 at the time) as the pair won three events along with posting eight podium placements and 10 “final four� finishes. Sandra and Jackie returned to the SWATCH tour in 1995 and won the international points titles twice along with capturing the gold medals at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games and the 1997 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships at Los Angeles. For four seasons together on the SWATCH tour, Sandra and Jackie won 84.2 percent of their matches (139-26) and 12 of their 18 title matches. The 39
pair never finished below fourth in 29 SWATCH stops with 28 podium placements. Sandra joined forces with Adriana Samuel at the start of the 1998 SWATCH season as the pair played together through the 2000 season. Sandra and Adriana were fourth at the 1999 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in Marseille before claiming the bronze medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. After playing with Tatiana Minello (2001, 12 events, 53-22 match record, Goodwill Games gold medal) and Leila Barros (2002, 11, 3218) the next two seasons, Sandra teamed with Ana Paula Connelly in 2003 to pursue a spot in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Highlighted by the 2003 SWATCH points championships, Sandra and Ana Paula qualified for the Olympics where they placed fifth. Due to injuries, Sandra and Ana Paula played in only 16 SWATCH events with five gold medals, nine medals and an 81-17 match mark. Pires is one of 14 players to compete in all three Olympic Beach Volleyball competitions. She had a 5-0 record with Jackie in Atlanta, 4-1 with Adriana in Sydney and 3-2 with Ana Paula in
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What is Sandra Pires doing now? Sandra is now a beach volleyball tutor for both Olympic, professional, collegiate, high school, and amateur athletes. She works with the Brazilian national team. Athens. Only Natalie Cook of Australia has won more Olympic Beach Volleyball matches (13) than Sandra (12). Sandra was also honored by her country’s Olympic Committee at the Sydney 2000 Games by becoming the first women to carry the Brazilian flag into the opening ceremonies. On the Brazilian domestic tour, Sandra has won the 2000 and 2001 Queen of the Beach competition. She teamed with Jackie to win the 1995 points title followed by championship with Adriana in 1998. She finished fourth in 2005 with Agatha.
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1ST BEACH PAIR TO WIN OLYMPIC GOLD IN BEACH VOLLEYBALL 43